Using a Sexuality in Advertisement - Essay Example

LITERATURE REVIEW 2 Sex sells? It has sold before. Advertising appeals entrenched in erotic foundations has been perceived as a potential motivator for the increased consumer interest and sales. Despite the conservative nature that earlier social trends in sexuality adhered to (Thornton & Young-De Marco, 2001) sexuality was always been a strong asset that sustained the sales market and solidified the organization’s stance in the competing market. This led to the credibility of the increased cigarette sales that W. Duke & Sons achieved in 1985 following the introduction of trading cards in cigarette packs that featured sexually provocative starlets. By 1890 Duke was one of the dominant brands in the cigarette industry (Porter, 1971). These gains are not limited to the cigarette industry. The erotic intrusion in the advertising industry has gained organizations to benefit from the sales turnovers followed by sexy illustrations with their product promotions. Woodbury’s facial soap (see Appendix A, figures 2.1, 2.2, 2.3) and Jovan Musk oil attest to this. The former organization (WHICH ONE?) avoided a shutdown following a sales turnover in 1910 after featuring romantic couples (Account Histories, 1926) and they increased its revenues from $1.5 million in 1971 to $77 million in 1978 by associating their product to sexually implicit material (Sloan & Millman, 1979). Empirical evaluation interjects the assumption that sexuality is not novice in the market industry. The tendency is to organize research by first inquiring on several depictions and manners that motivate customers to perceive ads as sexual (Content Research) after reviewing and dissecting the consumer’s reactions in terms of the processing, emotive, and respondent variable (individual characteristics) responses that are termed and classified into Effects Research. 2.2 Sexual Content Content Research ascribes to the way sexuality is portrayed in advertisements. This kind of research is important in sustaining a mutual relationship with the Effects Research. It helps to be operational in sexuality and chains of sexuality seen as an independent variable in the experimental stage. McAnulty & Burnette (2004) asserted that sexuality confers no universal definition, and such an Idiographic3 approach towards defining sexuality lends credit to the vast individual differences, sexual attitudes, and perceptions that epitomizes this area (Hatfield & Rapson, 1996). In several studies, researchers attempted to elucidate the sexual content portrayed in advertisements and showed that it would sexually appeal to the general public by adopting a Nomothetic4 approach from the former idiographic foundations. Whilst introducing sexual content from a historically comparative view, dismembering sexual content into various forms, and categorised by various empirical analyses, such as; nudity, sexual behaviour, contextual effects, sexual referents, and symbolism. This retrospective data confers ideas that marketing industries are increasingly trying to imbue consumers directly; by increasing the level of eroticism in their ads. They are also trying to reach this potential by varying their sexually oriented methods that facilitate their intrusion in the consumer’s life. 3 Idiographic is the study of uniqueness in an individual (Windelband, 1894). 4 Nomothetic is the study of the things that are shared with others (Windelband, 1894). 2.2.2 Sexual Content through Clothing - Nudity Erotic visual representations of people have been increasing (Soley & Kurzbard, 1986) whilst earning the connotation of being the main protagonist towards the perpetration of sexual content in advertisements (Gould, 1994). Sexual visual depictions are a common measure of sexual content since they also account for sexual content to carry-out cross cultural studies (Biswas, Olsen, & Carlet, 1992; Cheng, 1997). Recent analyses of the respondents’ identification of sex in advertisements showed that they overwhelmingly described as visual aspects of ads (Reichert & Ramirez, 2000). The research has demonstrated that sexuality in ads has employed clothing as a function of sexual content (Alexander & Judd, 1978; Ford & La Tour, 1993; Jones, Stanaland &Gelb, 1998; Kerin, Lundstrom & Sciglimpaglia, 1979; Peterson & Kerin, 1977; Simpson, Horton & Brown, 1996; Smith, Haugtvedt, Jadrich & Anton, 1995; Steadman, 1969). Clothing of sexual content is perceived when women are dressed with few clothing. It was as high as 40% as measured in magazine advertisements in 1993 (Reichert, Lambiase, Morgan, Carstarphen, & Zavoina, 1999). Clothing is further categorized as demure, suggestive, partially clad, and nude (Soley & Reid, 1988). These classifications were useful when they were used to complement Effects Research. They provided various degrees of sexual content based on the range of responses given on the independent variable (sexual content). This was empirically shown in an experiment that tested the effect of dressing and attitudes towards the ad while featuring a fragrance. Findings revealed that the sample of undergraduate students favoured the ads differently depending on how much clothing the model was wearing (La Tour, 1990; La Tour & Henthorne, 1993). 2.2.3 Sexual content through Behaviour Despite that clothing as a main ingredient in producing sexual messages, the model’s sexualized behaviours may be another method of evoking sexual interest. An average of 39% of male/female respondents (males 37%; females 42%), described a model’s behaviour as a sexy ad. These responses included moving and talking in a manner that evoked the viewer’s sexual interest (Reichert & Ramirez, 2000). Movement and speech are not the sole agents promoting sexual behaviours. Fleeting glances, smiling, self-grooming, head tilt, exposing the neck and eye contact with the camera are all indicative of sexual behaviours (Givens, 1983). In a survey designed by Fullerton & Kendrick (2001), they found in the Spanish language network Univision that they featured advertisements that portrayed one-fourth of all of the women engaging in sexual behaviour (sensual dancing, accentuating lips, and cleavage). Sexual behaviour also embodies an interaction or contact that can be analysed at various sexual levels of classification, such as, passionate kissing and stimulated foreplay (Soley & Reid, 1988). In a survey administered by Reichert and Ramirez (2000), one-fifth (15%) of the male/female respondents perceived models engaged in sexual interaction (proxemics) as sexual. The women (28%) were four times as much as males (6%) to cite this category. These surveys demonstrate that advertisers make up a variety of methodological combinations to reach their audience. These techniques used by the advertising industry affect the contextual effects, symbolisms, and sexual referents as archetypes. 2.2.4 Sexual Content as Contextual Variables, Sexual Referents, and Symbolism When contextual variables are purposely manipulated by advertisers to elicit sexual feelings, the focus shifts to production techniques and locations rather than on the models. Twenty six percent of the respondents that answered the survey declared that sexual perceptions were credited to other variables (photography, setting, music, lightning, and colour) in the ad, rather than on the models (Reichert and Ramirez, 2000). Messages are understood as sexual when they are paired with a sexual meaning or can be deciphered non-sexually with associated implications towards the promoted product. Calvin Klein jeans featured the sexual content with the aid of model Brooke Shields, when she asked viewers whether they know what comes between her and her Calvins (Bello, Pitts, & Etzel, 1983) (Appendix A, figure 3). Symbolism as a synonymous fashion to sexual referents ascribes to indirect sexual references. The variant that segregates referents and symbolism takes place at the perceptive level. In symbolism, sexual images are understood at a preconscious level, (Trappey, 1996). Pragmatic illustrations of these methods include the introduction of symbols in ads that connote or take the shape of genitalia. Rosen & Singh´s (1992) study has not succeeded to substantiate the subliminal effects, although results are controversial. In a study performed by Ruth, Mosatche & Kramer (1989), males and females undergraduate respondents were more likely to report their intentions to consume alcohol while promoted with genital symbolism rather than with other alcohol advertisement that were non-symbolic. 2.3 Effects Research This section will discuss the utility of sex in advertisement, effects research. After a breakthrough of erotically enhanced ads, researchers have been floundered with questions that inquire the utility of the effects of sex in ads. Studies investigated several propositions in the quest to understand the issues of the impact of the model’s physical attraction on ads evaluation (Baker & Churchill, 1977; Kilbourne, 1986; Mills & Harvey, 1972); nudes’ impact on brand recall (Alexander & Judd, 1978); and, the readership of magazine ads as influenced by decorative models (Reid & Soley, 1983). Effects research concerns the response that the receptor (consumer) exhibits as a result to the erotic stimuli as perpetrated by sexy ads. Consumers expressed a variety of subjective feelings in response to sexualized ads. Throughout this review this researcher will apply a paradigmatic approach ascribing to a reduction framework which reduces the consumers’ responses into three categories: cognitive processing, emotional, and the individual respondents’ reactions to erotic ads. This framework is able to sustain the validity of cognition and emotion as fundamental elements in message(s) interpretation (Stout and Leckenby, 1986; Chaudhuri, 1998; Martineau, 1957; Holbrook & OShaughnessy, 1984) whilst also mediating a subjective orientation through diverse individual reactions. 2.3.1 Cognitive Effects The processing of eroticism in ads follows a hierarchy of steps that commence from the procedural levels of attention to the retentive stage followed by exposure. Attention is the preliminary stage that allows the reception, an important variable towards studying the effects of sex in advertisements. Research has provided strong empirical support in favour of this hypothesis; sexualized information attracts the consumers’ attention (Belch, Holgerson, Belch & Koppman, 1981; MacInnis, Moorman & Jaworski, 1991; Dudley, 1999; Reichert, Heckler & Jackson, 2001). Attraction is measured through various methods: physiological response procedures (Belch et al., 1981), simple recognition (Reid & Soley, 1981), and self reports (Reichert et al., 2001). Whilst applying these methods, studies have found that attention is directed towards sexual information in ads. Soley & Reid (1981) found that the recognition of sexual visuals in ads were significantly higher than similar ads that were sexually neutral (without sexual implications). Recall is another method used to determine the eroticism’s effectiveness in being a stimulus driven control (bottom up control) of the consumer’s attention resources. In an experiment of visual playback, a sexualized Calvin Klein product commercial was remembered in greater detail by both genders of undergraduate students than a sexually neutral Calvin Klein product commercial. This effect persisted over a two month period following exposure (Reichert & Alvaro, 2001). These studies asseverated that sexual ads are more interesting than non-sexual ads. This appears to be congruent with other research findings (Bello, Pitts & Etzel, 1983; Judd & Alexander, 1983; Reichert & Alvaro, 2001). Counterproductive distraction was found to be a major variable degrading the sexualized ads’ effects. The counter-productivity may be absent immediately after exposure, if they are not sexually oriented, although apparent after some period of time (Reichert & Alvaro, 2001; Weller et al., 1979). Steadman (1969) did not find an effect right after exposure although the brand name recall was significantly lower a week later. Severn, Belch & Belch (1990), suggested that sexual stimuli encourage the individual to ponder more into the sexual image than on the message(s). Relevant studies attributed causal explanations for the distraction hypothesis. Studies claimed that distraction is linked to the degree that the product is relevant to the sexual appeal. Richmond & Hartman (1982) found that brand recall with respect to the brand’s verbatim name was significantly lower when sexual content in the ad was not functionally related to the product. Relevance to the product also influences the respondents’ evaluations. Findings suggest that as sexual content increases in ads for the irrelevant product, evaluations for the ad and brand decreases (Peterson & Kerin, 1977). 2.3.2 Affective Effects An affective evaluation of an ad translates into the consumer’s attitude towards the ad, which may induce feelings concerning the purchase intention and the brand (Muehling & McCann, 1993). Arousal and affect are important components of emotion, (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). Considering advertising research, physiological arousal (arousal and alertness) is widely used to measure emotion (Reichert, 2002). La Tour (1990) found that arousal increased in intensity as the level of sexual explicitness in ads increased. Another study portrayed similar results, though it tended to draw towards which sexual content could be evaluated positively. When males and females experience arousal and the sexual content (nudity) increases, the ad images of the opposite sex are evaluated favourably (Belch et al., 1981). This research also sheds the hypothesis that parallels La Tour’s studies (La Tour, 1990; La Tour, Pitts & Snook-Luther, 1990; La Tour & Henthorne, 1993) in that, as the sexual stimuli (unclothed female) increase in explicitness, males experience general activation (positive arousal reaction) while females experience increase in tension (negative arousal reaction). As a result, arousal towards sexual information translated into similar attitudinal response to the ad (La Tour & Henthorne, 1993; La Tour et al., 1990) suggests that arousal induced by sexual information may be an important variable towards responding to the organizations’ offers and products. Sexual ads are evaluated more positively than non-sexual ads (Reichert et al., 2001; Severn et al., 1990). In the La Tour & Henthorne (1994) study, attitudes towards the ads were significantly more positive towards the high sex condition than they were for the no-sex condition. Despite that such findings disclose a strong hypothesis supporting the positive evaluations that sexualized ads gain, there seems to be no universal agreement. Other research reveals that sexual ads pertain to no advantage with regards to evaluations (Belch et al., 1981; Bello et al., 1983). Research studies have also depicted the degrading implications that highly sexualized ads impinge upon the respondents’ attitude towards the ad. Results adhered to the notion that attitudes towards an ad are more favourable in response to a moderate sexual image than to a highly sexual image (La Tour & Henthorne, 1994). 2.3.3 Individual Characteristics This researcher will focus on the diverse individual characteristics that flavour the consumer’s perceptions following sexy promotional illustrations. Evidence suggests that different groups of individuals react variably to sexual stimuli (Morrison & Sherman, 1972) and gender is one variable that mediates the variability (Simpson et al., 1996). Research has revealed that females are more tolerant than males when being exposed to sexual images of their same gender. Dudley’s (1999) study, confirmed that females evaluate sexual images of their same gender more favourably than males evaluate sexualized male depictions. Gender variability is increasingly pronounced in response to an explicitly ranging degree of sexual content. Males experience a pattern of positive evaluations to sexual ad content as sexual explicitness increases (La Tour & Henthorne, 1993) Female responses adhere to a curvilinear pattern that is highly explicit and perpetrates lower evaluations when compared to moderate explicitness (Belch et al., 1981; Sciglimpaglia, Belch & Cain, 1979). Reichert & Ramirez (2000) suggested that males and females differ on what they perceive as being sexual. Analyses on a sample of undergraduate students revealed that, 28% of the females perceived proxemics (the most gender differentiating category in this study) between models (couple in deep embrace) as sexual more than males (6%). All genders subscribed physical features as being a causal factor that earned the depiction in the ad to be sexy. This included more than two-thirds of males (71%) as opposed to 58% of females. Whilst gender differences do exist, demographic variability is another potential factor capable of inducing diverse reactions in response to sexy ads. In a college-aged survey, adults responded more positively to the use of sex in advertisement than did older adults (Johnson & Satow, 1978; Wise, King & Merenski, 1974). The respondent’s age appeared to exert effects on the consumers’ purchase intentions. Young adults (41%), were likely to purchase a product (clothes) if sexual images appeared in the ad, compared to (42%) of retired adults, that attributed such imagery as being offensive (Fetto, 2001). Personality factors also contribute diversification among the consumers’ reactions towards sex in ads. Erotophobia and Erotophilia are learned dispositional stances towards sexuality that influence reactions to sexuality in ads. In a study aimed towards investigating the contraceptive use as influenced by such dispositional traits, erotophilics felt more comfortable, than were erotophobics (Helweg-Larson & Howell, 2000). A person’s sexual self-schema that engulfs all of the cognitive generalizations of the sexual aspects of a person (Andersen, Cyranowski, & Espindle, 1999) is a variable that confers essential understandings about a sexual being. Its effects were presented in the Reichert & Fosu study (in press). They revealed that consumers with positive sexual schemas may be more receptive and positive towards the advertisers’ appeals that contain sexual content. Sexual self schemas also adhere to sustain relationships with other personal sexual aspects of an individual’s sexual-guilt. Sex guilt imbues consumers to react according to their levels of experienced guilt following sexual behaviours and thoughts. Low-sex guilt respondents experienced more positive affective reactions to sexual ads than the high sex-guilt participants (Smith et al., 1995). Sex guilt analyzed with a sample of college students (with varying levels of sex guilt) influences the consumers’ affect processing, retention, and communicative evaluations followed by promotional contraceptive ads. High-sex guilt participants had less retentive and more negative communicative evaluations for the ads (Alden & Crowley, 1995). 2.4 Conclusion – Sexual content and its Effect vs. Purchase Intention Whilst reviewing sexual content and its relevant effects, it is concluded that these two variables are a conceptual dimension that establishes the purchase intention as a dependent variable. When translating erotic effects in ads into purchase outcomes, results enforce the viewers to appreciate and subscribe to a highly flexible framework that endorses subjectivity as an integral paradigmatic perspective. Research on these matters is very controversial and findings often contradicted each other. Several studies seem to ascribe to the notion that sex is a potential seller; in fact they revealed that ads with sexual information produced higher levels of purchase intentions than their non-sexual counterparts (Dudley, 1999; Grazer & Keesling, 1995; Severn et al., 1990). Although perpetrating a smaller but significant effect, Reichert’s et al. (2001) study revealed that sexual content produced a significant behavioural intention effect. Findings reveal that the erotic effects of ads (with regards to purchase intentions) are not an “all or none effect”. Other studies accentuated on the sexual content explicitness whilst concluding that ads featuring moderate sexual appeals appear to stimulate higher purchase intention than no-sex (Grazer & Keesling, 1995; La Tour & Henthorne, 1994). While adhering to the complex nature that drives from the relationship between erotic effects in ads and purchase intention, other findings seem to attest no causal relationship between the two. Bello et al. (1983) performed a study that showed no significant difference between the sex and no-sex condition effects on purchase intention. Despite the researchers’ attempts to generate general findings with regards to sex in ads, sexuality is an extremely dynamic entity that sheds no definite answers. The Spanish film director, Fernando Arrabal states; “If it’s not erotic it is not interesting” (REFERENCE). CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL REVIEW 3.1 Introduction The core assumption that rationalizes the organization and selection of the theories5 presented in this chapter was integration. Integration is philosophically conceptualized as Coherentism (Young, J., 2001). The selection and ordering of the theories is based on each theory’s strength. This chapter will contain the Processing of sexy ads, the Utility of sexuality in ads, and a Conclusion. 3.2 Do We Process Different Ads in a Same Way? - ELM The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) is a frequently quoted theory used to disclose the sexuality’s mechanism in the advertisement context. The ELM postulates a two-way method to comprehend the process that the consumers engage in methods of persuasion presented by advertising agencies. These authors described two routes towards persuasion: the Central route and the Peripheral route. These routes may lead to persuasion, however, the consumer engages in different qualitative processing along the elaboration of continuum. The Central route processes are high in elaboration and require the consumer to evaluate the information. Peripheral route processes ascribe to the consumer’s reliance of the message, such as, communicator attractiveness and product emblem design. This ultimately attests to a low level of elaboration. 5 The theories that will be mentioned in this chapter are: Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), Two Factor Theory of Emotion, Excitation Transfer Hypothesis, Attribution Theory, Classical Conditioning, Match-up Hypothesis, Optimal Theory of Arousal, Bottleneck Theory, Hierarchy of Effects, Activation Theory, and Operant Conditioning. 3.2.1 Which kind of Processing Does the Consumer engage in? When are they being exposed to Erotic Ads? The undertaken route (peripheral or central) is determined by ability and motivation, whereby low levels of factors indicate a consumer’s inclination towards the peripheral route processing. Peripheral processing usually occurs in response to sexual advertisement portrayals (Severn, Belch & Belch, 1990) whereby cognitions aiding support and counterarguments are somewhat inhibited (Reichert, 2002). Peripheral persuasion seems to portray irrational customers imbued by irrelevant commercial attributes. This intrigued the researcher to inquire the effects that sex appeal exerts on the consumer. 3.3.1.1 An Emotional Account Studying emotion related to erotic advertisements requires considerable face validity when considering that sexuality is mostly defined by its emotional component (McAnulty & Burnette, 2004). Emotions consist of two components: the affective and arousal (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974; Havlena & Holbrook, 1986). Studying emotions at its entirety as a manipulative tool in erotic advertisement provides no starting ground, since it’s a complex and intertwined factor that sheds variable effects and reactions (La Tour, 1990). Several studies postulated that the sexual arousal impacts the consumers’ evaluative and attitudinal stance towards the ad (La Tour & Henthorne, 1993) and the brand (Dudley, 1999; Smith & Engel, 1968). Two Factor Theories of Emotion and the Excitation Transfer Hypothesis The Two Factor Theory of Emotion (Schachter & Singer, 1962) purports that emotions are experienced following two discreet processes that pertain to the experience of the physiological arousal and to a cognitive label/interpretation, that explains the nature of the feeling by observing what is happening at the time of arousal. This implies that arousal tends to be non specific (Gorn, Pham & Sin, 2001) and the label given to an emotion depends on what they find in their environment. The Excitation Transfer Hypothesis (Zillmann, 1971) states that the arousal experienced by an event may be transferred to affect the response produced to a later target, since it is well known that arousal does not disintegrate immediately (Cantor, Zillmann & Bryant, 1975). How can these Theories Explain That Sexual Imagery in Ads Influence the Consumer’s Perception of the Ad and Brand? Using these two theories, consumers misattribute the remaining sexual arousal of the sexy illustration as part of their affective response to the advertisement and the brand, thereby expressing ‘biased’ evaluations. These biased evaluations are due to the consumers’ positive/negative product brand evaluations from the sexual imagery in ads and not from the real product brand attributions (these two factor theories state that emotion tends to be non-specific). The effects of the “remaining arousal” have also been documented by Reisenzein (1983). This implies that the nature of sexual portrayal (explicitness) can produce a related balanced arousal (positive arousal) that affects the advertisement´s evaluation (La Tour, 1990). 3.3.1. 2 A Behavioural and Social Account The influence (effectiveness) of sexual appeal in advertisement may be considered by several theoretical postulations, such as: The Attribution Theory (Heider, 1958) and the Classical Conditioning (Pavlov, 1889-1919).These theoretical formulations in a combined mode, may provide a basis to understand the mechanisms that transfers positive attributions produced due to the sexuality, brand, and ad. Brands and advertisements benefit positively in evaluations that are extrinsic to their own conceptions, though intrinsic to the sexual theme being portrayed. The Attribution and Classical Conditioning Theories The attribution theory states that people are scientists, tending to infer the causality of behaviour through observation. Research reveals that attractive individuals are perceived by people as successful individuals, while unattractive individuals are often coined with lack of input and being influenced by others (Miller, 1970). Classical conditioning is a form of associative learning, through a series of paired representations of a neutral and stimuli the neutral stimulus starts to elicit responses identical to the significant stimuli’s yielded response. How Can These Theories Explain That Sexual Imagery in Ads Influences the Consumer’s Perception of the Ad and Brand? Pragmatic illustrations of these two theoretical concepts may be attested within the advertising market. Model attractiveness conveyed through sexual ads appeals mediates positive perceptions (Attribution Theory) and Classical Conditioning relates to positive attributes in the promotional brand. In the advertising context, the product brand is the neutral/unconditional stimulus, while the operational side of the significant/conditioning stimulus is the positive perception mediated through the sexual appeal (sexual-attractiveness). After a series of paired sexual appeal-product brand portrayal, products may gain the attributed feeling of sexual appeal (positive feelings). Petroshius & Crocker (1989) paralleled these theoretical frameworks and ecologically validated their notions through research. Attractive models in promotional ads were found to lead to favourable attitudes towards the ad. Despite the sexuality’s positive connotations within the advertising market, controversial findings suggest that sexual attractiveness may draw the opposite effects (Caballero, Lumpkin, & Madden, 1989). Research results found the opposite where unattractive models were more effective, thereby increasing product sales (Caballero and Solomon, 1984). 3.3.1.3 To What Extent is Sexuality in Ads Influencing the Consumer’s Perception of the Ad and Brand in a Positive Way? – Match-up Hypothesis The limitation that protects erotic ads from being less effective than non-erotic ads has already been conceptualized and was theoretically formulated as the Fittingness, (Kanungo & Pang, 1973) and the Match-up Hypothesis (Kahle & Homer, 1985; Kamins, 1990). The Match-up Hypothesis states that products and advertising models must satisfy a relationship based on congruent pertinence. In this case, sexually attractive models are more effective when they are matched to promote products that are related to beauty (Reichert, 2002) than for a home computer (Kamins, 1990). This theory describes two different types of interactions between the product and the endorser; termed high-association6 and low-association7 (pictorial illustration see Appendix A, figure1.1 and 1.2). 3.3.2 Using Sexual Content in Ads to Perpetrate the Orienting Reflex Cognitively speaking, sexual content may be ascribed to perpetrate the oriented reflex/orienting response (Fiske & Taylor, 1991) which is the, “…reflexive redirection of attention that orients you toward the unexpected stimulus” (Ashcraft, 2002, p.125). The “stopping power of sex” (Yovovich, 1983) or the “initial attention lure” (Shimp, 2003) in the advertising stimulates the consumer’s attention (Belch, 1981; Dudley, 1999) through dishabituation and are most likely to be effective when modified to fit the Optimal Arousal Theory’s description (Berlyne, 1971). The Optimal Theory of Arousal The Optimal Arousal Theory states that stimuli that are moderately novel, surprising and complex are preferred as opposed to other stimuli that are high or low in novelty. Studies agreed that product evaluations were more positive when moderate levels of sexual content were being portrayed (La Tour & Henthorne, 1994). High levels (non-moderate) of sexual content in programmes may also be seen as aversively for sex-free ads portrayed between programmes and they promote low brand recall (Parker & Furnham, in press). 3.3.2.1 Misapplication of the Orienting Reflex This counterproductive distraction, produced as a result of erroneous usage of sexual stimuli with the intent of perpetrating the orienting reflex, is conceptualized as the Distraction Hypothesis (Festinger & Maccoby, 1964). This can be explained through a cognitive paradigm that owes credit to various theorists that proposed cognitive resources to be a finite pool of resources (Allport, Antonis & Reynolds, 1972). In a pertained fashion Broadbent’s (1958) Bottleneck Theory formulates a model of how incoming information is processed into the cognitive system and how this may provide an insight on why this distraction occurs. 6 High-association in sexual content describes sexual information that is an integral part of the brand message (Reichert, 2002). 7 Low-association in sexual content represents sexual information that has no relationship to the product brand (Reichert, 2002). The Bottleneck Theory This model states that attention is a limited phenomenon (Norman & Bobrow, 1975) attending to multiple stimuli simultaneously it pressures the processing centres to engage in filtering information. This cognition model raises questions that pertain to the methodological basis for selection. When sexual content is high, sex motivates consumers to hedonic cues (Chestnut, LaChance, & Lubitz, 1977) whilst leaving few, if any resources, available for the processing of the brand cues (MacInnis, Moorman & Jaworski, 1991). Bottleneck theories are excellent in explaining the consumption of resources by high sexual content at the expense of brand cues. It is unable to explicitly negotiate on the low brand recall implied above, unless attesting to a complementary relationship with the Hierarchy of Effects Model. The Hierarchy of Effects Model-Attention Distraction Implies Lower Brand Recall The “Hierarchy of Effects” model originally coined by Lavidge & Steiner (1961) has converged to encapsulate various interpretations (Starch, 1923; Strong, 1925). This model assumes that consumers progress linearly through a number of stages with persuasion as the final hierarchy. Starch (1923) contended that advertisements are effective when attention drives consequent mental events of seeing, reading, believing, remembering, and acting. This implies that a failure to attend to brand cues (as shown by the bottleneck theory) impede the consumers to move to other hierarchies (Belch and Belch, 1998) as remembering brand names, consequently resulting in low brand recalls (Reichert, 2002). Although applying the Hierarchy of Effects was able to produce a relationship between attending and storing its functional richness, it introduces motivation in the discussion as a complementary domain along other types of sexual content utility. The interpretation offered by Lavidge & Steiner (1961) concerning the hierarchy of effects model proposes a series of stages that conceptualize the advertisement’s relationship with the consumer in triplet domains: cognitive, affective, and motivational factors. Although the order of stage progression that the consumer moves through, when being exposed to an advertisement has been hardly debated (Palda, 1966) it is highly attributed to strength (O’Brien, 1971), and the utility (Barry, 1987; Stewart, Pechmann, Ratneshwar, Stroud & Bryant, 1985) may also be attested to when considering that this model also outlines the motivational factor as an integral variable towards mediating and influencing the consumer-advertisement relation. 3.3.3 Using Sexual Content in Ads to Motivate Consumers to Attend to the Ad Featuring Product and Brand More Research findings (Bello, Pitts & Etzel, 1983; Dudley, 1999) suggest that sexual advertisements are more engaging and interesting than non sexual ads (Reid & Soley, 1981) and it captures the consumers’ attention. This requires to borrow Thayer’s Activation Theory (1978) and Operant Conditioning (Skinner, 1930-1938). 3.3.3.1 The Activation Theory and Operant Conditioning In the Activation Theory (Thayer, 1978) proposed a four-dimensional model of arousal through factor analysis from the responses to an Activation-Deactivation Adjective checklist (Thayer, 1967) that includes: general activation (energy), deactivation sleep (fatigue), high activation (tension), and general deactivation (calm). Thayer implicates that arousal involves an intricate relation between two dimensions: [A] a continuum extending from energized feelings of fatigue and [B] a continuum spreading from tension to calmness (La Tour & Zahra, 1988). Experiencing dimension A or B relates to positive or negative cognitions (La Tour & Zahra, 1988). The Operant Conditioning conceptualizes behaviour as a response that occurs within an environmental event (within a stimulus) (Skinner, 1971). It is distinguished from the Classical Conditioning through denying the stimulus’ potential of explicitly eliciting the response however, the stimulus influences the response. Skinner proposed that stimuli follow responses (consequences) that change the probability of whether the response is likely or unlikely to occur again thus acting as an antecedent stimulus. There are four concepts of Operant Conditioning, that are classified according to the potential of increasing behaviour (Positive and Negative Reinforcement), and decreasing behaviour (Positive and Negative Punishments). In essence the nature of a stimuli result in a motivation or conversely a de-motivation to perform a particular behaviour. 3.3.3.2 Using Activation Theory and Operant Conditioning in Ads to Motivate Consumers to Attend to the Ad Featuring Product and Brand more Integrating the Operant Conditioning and the Activation Theory depicts arousal acting along a Skinnerian framework (Operant Conditioning Concepts) that may serve as a variable reinforcement or punishment; influencing the consumers’ disengagement or engagement with the advertisement’s exposure through attention. The sexual implications in an advertisement may produce several arousal patterns as suggested by Thayer’s Activation Model (Thayer, 1978) that influence the consumers’ attitude towards the ad, (La Tour, 1990).When the sexual implications in an advertisement constitute positive valence arousal, consumers are motivated to approach the stimulus (advertisement) (Reichert, 2002) thereby creating more interested (Dudley, 1999) and attentive consumers (Alexander & Judd 1986). Erotic advertisements are creating a relationship with the consumer that is engineered to make further consumer-advertisement interactions more likely in the future. The famous actor George Burns stated, "I would read Playboy magazine more often, but my glasses keep steaming over" (REFERENCE). 3.4 Conclusion This chapter covered various utilities that underlie sexual imagery in advertisement. This review de-centred itself from maintaining a sole perspective. The various utilities were scrutinized under various domains, such as the affective, behavioural, sociological, and cognitive perspectives. Inherent in this presentation was a double edged theme that portrayed sexuality as an effective advertising strategy to a certain extent that adheres to various limitations and boundaries. This will help the subject to move beyond the public realm of ‘sex sells’ towards a more realistic and sophisticated analysis. 3.3 Utility of Sexual Imagery in Advertising 3.3.1 Using Sexuality in Ads to Influence the Consumers’ Perception of the Ad and Brand HERE ARE YOUR 20 PAGES ALTHOUGH THERE APPEARS TO BE 22. SEVERAL PAGES HAVE BLANK SPACES DUE TO FOOTNOTES AND OTHERS, SO THAT WOULD LOOK RIGHT I NEED TO MOVE THE INFORMATION TO THE NEXT PAGE. I PLACED 3.3 AND 3.3.1 HERE BECAUSE THEY ARE IN BLANK. HAVE A NICE DAY. Read More